The Hunt for Living Room Chairs

With our new sofas arriving sometime in the next week or two, I’m scrambling to figure out the other elements for the room. Admittedly, I don’t want to rush my decision but I’ve been stockpiling some ideas for some time now. So, it’s really just a matter of finalizing my decisions at this point. Our sofas will officially look like the following image for reference (the fabric is the Performance Everydaylinen™ by Crypton® Home, Oatmeal). We went with the bench seat and the 95″ deep seat option.

You can read more about our decision to search for new sofas in this post. We basically never put any effort into our living room, which is crazy since it’s the main room in our home. It essentially got all the furniture from our last home, regardless of the fact that it didn’t really fit and was way too large for the space. And the furniture we do have was essentially bought because they were items were could each compromise on nearly seven years ago. So, I’m at the point where I’m making more conscious decisions about the space. Here’s a picture of the space from earlier this year. What’s also not apparent is that immediately backing the dark leather chairs is our large, black kitchen island. It all just feels so heavy down the middle with the TV, fireplace, coffee table, chairs and then the island.

Here’s an older pic that demonstrates the flow from the kitchen to the living room.

I’m thinking I really want to paint the walls in the room white. Kurtis is a bit skeptical though. Every single living room image I look at that I feel is my style, has white walls. My only concern is where I stop the paint though, because if I butt up to the cabinets, it will be super apparent just how cream/almond-colored they are.

In an effort to fully finish the room, I’ve started looking for chairs to replace our dark leather chairs. We’ll still need a coffee table too, but I’m searching for one item at a time. Admittedly not the best approach, but it’s a bit overwhelming for me to look for everything all at once!

I know we want something much lighter and ideally a bit smaller. The current ones have a fairly large footprint because of the sloped backs and arm width (our barstools actually hit the back of the chairs when we try to sit at the island each night for dinner). The living room is really tight (it’s wide but not very deep) so if I can get chairs a few inches smaller than the current ones, that would be ideal. I’m not opposed to leather (if it’s lighter) but it isn’t my first choice (but is what Kurtis would prefer). The other issue is that leather ups the costs by nearly double or more. I ultimately want a look that’s beachy casual yet also looks polished.

Today I’ve rounded up a few categories of types of chairs I’m looking at (even more than what’s shown in the graphic below). If any of you own any of these, I’d love your feedback!

Learn more about all the chairs I’m considering by clicking any of the images below to learn more about each item!

Cane & Woven Chairs

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Spindle Chairs

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Leather Chairs

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Upholstered Chairs

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I think this spindle chair may be at the top of my list from a cost and look perspective. I actually ordered some of the free fabric samples Wayfair offers and it definitely changed my initial thoughts on what I thought I would like so that was super helpful. My only concern is that the spindles may be too cream colored for my taste. I’m also a huge fan of this rattan chair and the reviews are excellent. It’s a bit more expensive than I’d ideally like to spend, but I’m guessing they do sales occasionally? I also really like this super cost-effective option. It has excellent reviews, but my only concern is that the fabric may not work well with the oatmeal linen I ordered for our sofas.

As I mentioned before, we’re planning to sell all of our old furniture. The reality is, simply by selling furniture and odd and ends around the house on a local Facebook group, I should be able to fund more than half of this update. That’s huge! I’ve already sold enough to cover nearly one full sofa! I’ve had a bunch of questions about how I sell so if you find that a post on this would be helpful, let me know in comments and I’ll start working on one. I just don’t want to post something that just seems super obvious to everywhere either 😉

Have a great weekend! We have our annual neighborhood costume party tonight so I should have some fun photos to share come Monday 😉

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Comments

Love your choices. I actually ordered that same spindle chair but with the wood stained finish in the Stedman Natural fabric. I think it should be arriving in a few weeks so I will let you know what I think of it in person…which I guess won’t help much since you are going for a different finish! I will let you know how I like mine though! Shelley

I love your chairs ideas! Our family room and kitchen have an open concept and we’ve been happy with swivel chairs, allowing folks to face the kitchen and chat or turn back to catch the score. I have a similar color of cabinets yet wanted a warm white for my family room area. We decided on BM Soft Chamoise for the walls with Chantilly Lace trim and carried the wall color in both the family room and kitchen. The result is that the cabinets are actually darker than the walls, making the wall color appear more white vs. cream. It’s definitely not a bright white, but we are really happy with the results. Let me know if you’d like to see pictures. Credit goes to Kelly Thompson of Stylish Patina (www.stylishpatina.com) in Falls Church VA for helping me pick the color combination!

Love the chair options. You might consider swivel chairs so that folks can turn to face the kitchen and then quickly check the score. We faced a similar dilemma with our very cream cabinets and decided on BM Soft Chamoise with Chantilly Lace trim. It’s a warm white, yet is lighter than the cabinets but contrasts nicely. Credit to Kelly Thompson of Stylish Patina in Falls Church VA for help selecting my paint color. Check her site out at http://www.stylishpatina.com.

I love all of your chair options! I also like the spindle chair & rattan chair best and think they’d fit perfectly with your casual, beachy vibe! Personally, I like your wall color but know that it probably photographs lighter than it is in person. I’d love for you to do a post about how you sell your furniture on FB! I’ve tried selling on a local FB group but have not had much success. Thanks!

I’d love a post on how you sell on facebook. Also, I love the spindles but also wonder about a chair with a warm chestnut/camel color that is a velvet-like upholstery and with exposed legs. I love your style and know you’l nail it no matter what you choose, but I think it would be really cool to add a warmer fabric (velvet-like) that wears like steal and adds some visual friction as a contrast to the linen sofas. Plus, you could cool them down in the summer months with light colored linen pillows. I also like the Hughes leather swivel chairs. Not a fan of the deconstructed look. I think you’d regret that decision later…I don’t think that aesthetic matches your style. Thanks for your enjoyable blog!

You’ve done a review of the pottery barn sofa but what do you think of the spindle chairs by now? I’m interested in doing a room very similar to what you posted for your family too. Thank for the input!

Honestly, we don’t sit in them all that frequently. When they first arrived, they were definitely very firm. They’ve softened a bit, but without much use, they are still pretty firm. They are definitely more of a conversation style chair, not so much a cuddling up type chair. I know others rave about how comfy they are, so I’m guessing they’ll continue to soften up over time (which is why I’ve been waiting to officially do a review on them). Hopefully that makes sense!